It’s Time to Speak Up for Yourself
To celebrate National Healthcare Decisions Day, April 16, Hope Hospice invites the community to a free screening of Consider the Conversation, a documentary on a taboo subject, at the Vine Cinema in Livermore from 7 to 9 pm.
Seating is limited, so reserve a seat online at HopeHospice.com or by calling (925) 829-8770.
This powerful and inspiring, award winning film highlights the American struggle with communication and preparation at the end-of-life and seeks to change the prevalent national attitude that views end-of-life as a failed medical event. The film endeavors to show end-of-life as a normal process rich in opportunity for human development.
The goal of the screening is to jump-start the conversation on end-of-life care between husband and wife, doctor and patient, minister and parishioner and parent and child. It will inspire and empower people to make their wishes known in writing.
“Having the conversation ahead of time gives individuals the chance to live life to its fullest up to the very end,” says Peter P. Wong, MD, medical director of Hope Hospice.
“We have chosen the Vine Cinema in Livermore so attendees can watch the film while enjoying food and wine in an everyday setting to encourage open conversation about advance health care planning,” says David Karlsson, president, Hope Hospice Board of Directors.
Winner of numerous awards from the Best Shorts International Competition, Consider the Conversation examines multiple perspectives on end-of-life care and includes interviews with patients, family members, doctors, clergy, social workers, and national experts.
Following the screening, Hope Hospice is hosting a panel discussion featuring Lisa Krieger, Science/Medicine Writer, San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group and author of the “Cost of Dying Report;” Peter P. Wong, MD, board certified physician in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Care, and Hope Hospice Medical Director; and Mary Lee Gates, Palliative Care NP, MS, Director of Education and Outreach, Alameda-Contra Costa POLST Coalition.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their views. Advance Healthcare Directives kits, POLST forms, Five Wishes forms and other planning tools will be available as well.
While making health care decisions is often difficult in the best of circumstances, making decisions for others is even more complicated.
Each of us has the ability to guide our health care providers and our loved ones about what we want. Advance directives give individuals the ability to document the types of health care they do and do not want, and to name an “agent” to speak for them if they cannot speak for themselves. As Terri Schiavo’s situation vividly revealed, advance directives should be filed by all adults, regardless of current age or health status.
A recent survey, Final Chapter: Californians’ Attitudes and Experiences with Death and Dying, released by the California HealthCare Foundation found that 60 percent of Californians say it is extremely important to make sure their family is not burdened by tough decisions about their care, yet 56 percent of people had not discussed end-of-life wishes with their loved ones. The survey also found that while 82 percent of people say it is important to have end-of-life wishes in writing, only 23 percent say they have done so, reinforcing the importance of National Healthcare Decisions Day.
Seating is limited and Hope Hospice is asking attendees to reserve their space by calling (925) 829-8770 or by registering online at HopeHospice.com. Dinner and refreshments may be ordered ahead of time at the Vine Cinema, vinecinema.com or by phone at (925) 447-2545.
About Hope Hospice
Hope Hospice is a regional nonprofit organization providing compassionate care, insight, and guidance as families navigate through the end-of-life process. The team of professionals, many with hospice and palliative care certification, provides emotional and spiritual support with state-of-the art methods of pain and symptom control to maximize quality of life. Hope Hospice serves families in Alamo, Blackhawk, Castro Valley, Diablo, Danville, Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Sunol and the surrounding communities in the East Bay of San Francisco.
www.hopehospice.com
About Healthcare Decisions Day
April 16, 2012 will be the fifth annual National Healthcare Decisions Day. The goal of this nationwide initiative is to ensure that all adults with decision-making capacity in America have both the information and the opportunity to communicate and document their future healthcare decisions. By doing so the number of tragedies that occur when a person’s wishes are unknown may be reduced. With the Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990, Congress affirmed the right of every citizen to set forth his or her future healthcare wishes in writing with an “advance directive.” Yet, various estimates suggest that only about 25 percent of all Americans have done so. Because advance directives can be created without a lawyer, for free, and relatively easily, this figure is astonishingly low.
www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org
About “Consider the Conversation”
Eighteen months in the making, “Consider the Conversation” was entirely funded by private donations. It premiered in front of a sold-out theatrical audience on February 5, 2011 and on March 1, 2011 the film was released on DVD via Amazon.com for personal and educational use. On June 18, 2011, it was distributed to PBS stations nationwide via the national Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).
www.ConsidertheConversation.org.
About “Final Chapter: Californians’ Attitudes and Experiences with Death and Dying”
A large majority of Californians say they would prefer a natural death if they became severely ill, rather than have all possible care provided. They would prefer to die at home instead of a hospital or nursing home. And they want to talk with their doctor about their wishes for care at the end of their lives. However, Californians don’t always get what they want, as this research shows. The snapshot combines publicly available data with new research that explores people’s experiences around the death of a loved one and their own preferences for end-of-life care. On behalf of CHCF, the survey was conducted by Lake Research Partners in late 2011 among a representative sample of 1,669 Californians age 18 and older, including 393 respondents who lost a loved one in the past 12 months. The margin of error is 2.4 percentage points for the total results.
Read more: http://www.chcf.org/media/press-releases/2012/end-of-life-care#ixzz1oNxkXWM0
